Monitoring the Future Surveys (1976-2023)


Nationally representative sample of U.S. 12th-graders
N = 99,399






These next questions ask you to guess how well you might do in several different situations. How good do you think you would be as a:


  • husband or wife?
  • parent?
  • worker on a job?

Response options:

  1. poor

  2. not so good

  3. fairly good

  4. good

  5. very good

Key IVs

  • Year
  • Year2
  • Gender

Sample

Variable Overall
N = 99,399 (100%)
Men
N = 47,369 (48%)
Women
N = 52,030 (52%)
Mom completed college 33% 34% 31%
Race identity


    White 71% 73% 70%
    Black 11% 9.4% 12%
    Another race 18% 18% 18%
Region


    Northeast 20% 19% 20%
    Midwest 27% 27% 27%
    South 34% 34% 34%
    West 19% 19% 19%

Findings

Next Steps

  • Expectations for marriage/parenthood
  • Mom’s education & racial identity
  • Link with actual marriage/parenthood transitions

Thank you!


Joanna R. Pepin
University of Toronto


Melissa A. Milkie
University of Toronto